SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR FACILITATING PLAY OF A VIDEO GAME VIA A WEB SITE
A method and system for operating a video game or video game tournament (e.g., via a Web site) is disclosed. In accordance with the method and system a bonus is provided to a player playing the video game or participating in the video game tournament. In some embodiments a bonus is provided to the player if a rating associated with the player is worse than a threshold rating. In some embodiments a bonus is provided to the player if the occurrence of at least one predetermined condition is identified. Such a condition may be, for example, a condition that indicates the player will soon cease playing the video game or participating in the tournament.
1 . A method of facilitating game play on a network of video games, comprising:
calculating a first player ranking from game outcomes received by a first player from the video game,
calculating a second player ranking from game outcomes received by a second player from the video game;
determining the difference between the first player ranking and the second player ranking; and
providing a bonus to the first player if the difference is of at least a predetermined magnitude,
wherein the bonus changes the difficulty of the video game.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of providing the bonus comprises advancing the first player to a particular portion of the video game.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of changing the game play difficulty includes increasing the probability of a winning game outcome in the video game.
4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the bonus is selected from the group of a skill, a power, or a tool.
5 . An apparatus comprising:
a storage device; and
a processor in communication with the storage device,
the storage device storing a program for controlling the processor, and
the processor operative with the program to perform the method of claim 1 .
6 . A method of facilitating game play of a video game, comprising:
calculating a player ranking from game outcomes received from the video game; and
providing a bonus to the player if the player ranking reaches a predetermined magnitude,
wherein the bonus changes the difficulty of the video game.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the player performance level is determined by player points, the player points acquired during game play of the video game.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the points are credits.
9 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the step of changing the game play difficulty includes increasing the probability of a winning game outcome in the video game.
10 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the bonus is selected from the group of a skill, a power, or a tool.
11 . The methods of claim 6 , wherein the tool advances the player to a particular portion of the video game.
12 . A method of facilitating game play on a network of video games, comprising:
calculating a first player ranking from game outcomes received by a first player from the video game;
calculating a second player ranking from game outcomes received by a second player from the video game;
determining the difference between the first player ranking and the second player ranking; and
providing a bonus to the first player if the difference is of at least a predetermined magnitude,
wherein providing the bonus comprises changing a parameter of the video game to increase the probability of a winning game outcome for the first player.